Class and States

Class B Championship- Saturday, October 31 @ 11:30 AM

Goals
I wrote in my weekly log that I wanted 3rd or better, but wouldn't be disappointed with fifth. I changed my mind and top three was the goal, no exceptions. For time, I was looking to run sub 16:45 on the excellent course.
Pre-Race
Had pasta for breakfast, a few bars on the bus, and a bagel. Totally forgot to drink plenty of water, but it didn't end up affecting me. A short warm-up and watched the first race of the day, before two more warm-ups, where I watched another race and learned that the top runner (by far) in my race wasn't running. 1st place became a possibility. The added pressure made me extremely nervous, and I didn't feel good about it until almost a mile into the race. I got lucky with a port-a-potty right near the start, and took a bathroom break right before running.
The Race
Mile 1: Mile 1 is the class meet is the one to be scared of. Mile 2 was a relaxed loop on the great trails, and Mile 3 was whatever you had left. Unfortunately in most cross country races, it goes out so fast and mile one ends up being the fastest. The race starts are never comfortable because I'm not only worrying about my place and getting stuck behind people but I'm near a sprint. At the first turn, I was in about 10th place, and the grass got soft and felt odd to run on (The announcer said this, but for some reason I didn't take his advice to go around). I actually lost a few more on the field, and my legs felt drowsy. But once we got on the trails, I felt good again and moved up to top five. I maintained that position on another field loop before heading into the trails for the final time. I passed a few more guys going to the wide and hard-packed trail. That was my last position change during the race. I was second place from 0.75 on. Mile one finished soon. I'm guessing my split was around 5:10. I was right behind the leader, and third place was right behind me.
Mile 2: There's one hill on the course. Or at least one notable hill. The entire loop is rolling hills, but I only remembered one big one. That was towards the start of mile two. I went fast up the hill right the leader. After half a mile, I was still right behind him, and third had dropped back. I stayed with the leader for the rest of mile. Mile 2 split 10:35.

Mile 3: After another quarter mile being right behind the leader, we hit a decent size hill and I couldn't stay with him. He got about five seconds ahead of me, before going back down the giant hill. I felt good going down the hill to getting out of the woods. I looked left an saw 14:43 on the scoreboard when I got out. I picked it up to go around the final field portion, before completely sprinting the last field. It looked like 16:31 at the time, but it ended up being 16:35. A helper in the finish chute asked me If I was okay because I guess I was leaning over a little bit.

Beat my goals and had one of my best (if not the best) races of the season. Definitely very happy with this performance, and hopefully I can match it or beat it at states.

RI XC State Championships- Sunday, November 8 @ 2:00 PM

Goals
As long as I made New Englands, I wasn't concerned about much else. I had a sub-goal of making all-state and breaking 16:26, my first time of the season. The plan was to run out fast so I wouldn't be stuck behind anyone.
Pre-Race
Pasta again, and a bagel and a bar on the bus. Nervous when I got there, but after seeing everyone else, including some very fast runner seemed calm and relaxed, I also relaxed a little. Two short-warm-ups with an EWG runner who was also the only one up from his team, watched a little of the girls race, and headed over to the start line with plenty of time left. I got the bathroom out of the way 30 minutes before the start. The start line was pretty empty with 20 minutes to go, with the exception of few teams. The great La Salle Academy runners were in the box next to mine, so it was cool watching them do strides. I did 4-5 strides, put my spikes, taken a few sips of water until there was 10 minutes to go. More and more teams were coming to line, and I started to become a little nervous again. With 5 minutes to go, I did my last stride, took my last sip of water and took my sweats. Soon enough, the gun went off.
The Race
I was expecting States to be easier than class, because there was no pressure to get a top three spot and I just needed to run with someone. I was wrong.

The Brutally Fast First Mile: I remember that the first mile at class wasn't too fast, and I remained comfortable and relaxed throughout. I think I ran the first half-mile at states the way I would run the first half of a mile race. It was a near-sprint immediately, and right after the first turn I was completely boxed in, hitting runners on both sides. I was maybe in 20th place after the first turn, and as the large group of runners turned again the pace was still so fast. By the half-mile mark, I was exhausted. It had now cleared out so I wasn't bumping into people when running and I could pass someone if I needed to, but there were still plenty of people all around. At this point in the race, very early on, I realized this was going to be a hard race. The pace slowed a tiny bit but was still fast for the rest of the mile. A few people passed me, but I passed a few people too. I was about in 23rd or 24th at the end of the mile. If I had to take a guess, I'd say I ran the first mile anywhere from 4:55 to 5:05.

Mile 2:  As expected, Mile 2 was the most relaxed of the entire race. But that's only when comparing it to the first and third mile, because Mile 2 was not even close to being relaxing. At the start of the 2nd mile, it seemed I was maintaining my place. A quarter mile later, the top Chariho runner went by me and cruised up the hill. Since I considered pacing off him, I thought about going with him, but since I had no strength on uphills compared to other runners around, I didn't. A group of five rushed by me and got ahead. This was probably my highest position all race (around 30th). I stayed in that position until the next downhill, which came shortly after. I repassed some runners that got me on the hill. Except me getting really tired and moving up just a few more places, not a whole lot happened for the rest of the mile. I passed people, but others would pass me. Since so many athletes around me were getting their times yelled out, I heard one called out to the guy next to me. 10:36 for two miles.

The Turning Point: I kept my position the next quarter mile. I had a little less than a mile to go. Then I got to the hill where I couldn't stay with the leader at class. The entire week I had wondered if I could've stayed with him. The hill wasn't steep, but a long hill before surging back down Indian Hill (the giant one). On Sunday, I was passed by two runners and someone who had just passed me was called out as 24th. I wasn't going with him, and more people were catching up as I grew weaker and weaker. It seemed as though I wouldn't hold on and top 25 was out of the question.

Then it happened. I found some strength and went right with the guy who had just passed me. I had been behind the fourth and fifth Hendricken runners the whole race, and they were running in a small pack in front of me. We got to the top of the hill, the final uphill in the race, and I used the downhill to my advantage. I cut right through the middle of the pack and passed four or five runners. By the next quarter mile, I had picked off five more guys and exited the woods.

The Final Sprint: This was the hardest part of the race. I was completely dead, and I felt ready to collapse and die. There was a quarter mile to go, I passed one guy before the final turn, before he passed me back and surged way ahead. My legs and body were so weak on the final straightaway. I stumbled onto the field, and pushed to finish.

I was told I finished 17th in the chute. There are few races in my life where it's taken more than five minutes to be comfortable walking and talking. Two examples earlier this year were the freshman states 3000m and 2015 blessing, both of which took several minutes before recovering breath and strength. It took me about 20 minutes to feel okay after throwing up Gatorade and having an awful headache. The feeling passed, I was awarded with a medal and stood up as an all-state runner in the gym. Placing 17th never felt so good. Official time 16:29, results here.

Side Note 1: This was the second race this year that my place matched my bib number. I was 53rd at Blessing, and had the No. 53 bib, Sunday I had the No. 17 bib, which was my ranking determined before the race.

Side Note 2: Even though I had eight places to spare, it was one of the fastest state meets ever, and the 25th runner was only ten seconds behind me, his time being 26 seconds faster than last year's 25th runner.

Side Note 3: After deciding that the Burrillville Course is a short course, I'm going to count my time at states as my PR.